The present disclosure relates to a toner.
A toner (electrostatic latent image developing toner) is used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus fixes the toner to a recording medium such as paper through application of heat and pressure to the toner. Typically the toner contains a binder resin having a low softening point Tm and a low glass transition point Tg, and a releasing agent having a low softening point Tm in order to ensure energy efficiency during fixing and enable device miniaturization. As a consequence, storage of the toner at high temperatures may cause aggregation of toner particles included in the toner. Aggregated toner particles tend to have a lower charge than non-aggregated toner particles. Therefore, an image defect may occur when aggregated toner particles are fixed to a recording medium.
A known capsule toner includes a plurality of toner particles that each include a toner core and a shell layer (capsule layer) disposed over the surface of the toner core. The capsule toner can be fixed at relatively low temperatures and, as a consequence, power consumption can be reduced and occurrence of image defects can be inhibited through use of the capsule toner.